As we did with a brief snapshot earlier in the week, a key player to compare Theriot to is Stephen Drew of the Diamondbacks.

Drew and Theriot are both within the same service class (3 years), who has also reached settlement. The other key thing about Drew and Theriot is this: Drew settled on a $3.4 million deal with the Diamondbacks on Jan. 19th. How much is Theriot asking in salary arbitration? $3.4 million. What are the Cubs offering? $2.6 million.

Playing with Bloomberg’s tool, we’re providing defensive metrics into the equation from a graphical perspective. The graphing, something that can be done in Excel, but was done through the Bloomberg tool in a matter of seconds, really allows you to see how Theroit and Drew stack up defensively over the course of the season.

There are only 3 players left in salary arbitration, with rulings on Angels' catcher Jeff Mathis' and Washington Nationals reliever Sean Burnett being announced Friday. If Theroit's case were heard tomorrow, an announcement on the panel's decision would come on Saturday (see The Biz of Baseball's salary arbitration scorecard for details).